Question 1

True or false: Shepard served as a Navy test pilot and was selected for the Mercury Seven at age 37.

Accepted Answer

True. Born in 1923, he was a distinguished test pilot and joined NASA's first astronaut class in 1959, the Mercury Seven, at age 37.

Question 2

True or false: Shepard famously said 'Let's light this candle' just before his Mercury launch.

Accepted Answer

True. He uttered this iconic phrase on May 5, 1961, as the countdown ticked down for his Freedom 7 flight, showing his cool demeanor.

Question 3

True or false: Shepard was the first human to walk on the Moon.

Accepted Answer

False. Neil Armstrong was first in 1969. Shepard walked on the Moon during Apollo 14 in 1971, becoming the fifth person to do so.

Question 4

True or false: Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission.

Accepted Answer

True. Shepard smuggled a golf club head and used it to hit two balls on the lunar surface, famously claiming they went 'miles and miles.'

Question 5

True or false: Alan Shepard was the first American to orbit the Earth.

Accepted Answer

False. Shepard was the first American in space but only on a suborbital flight. John Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth in 1962.

Question 6

True or false: Alan Shepard flew on Apollo 13 before his famous Apollo 14 mission.

Accepted Answer

False. Shepard never flew on Apollo 13. After his recovery, he commanded Apollo 14, which launched in 1971, not the ill-fated 13th mission.

Question 7

True or false: Shepard was grounded for several years due to Ménière's disease, an inner ear disorder.

Accepted Answer

True. Diagnosed in the 1960s, it caused vertigo and hearing loss. Surgery later fixed it, allowing him to return to flight status for Apollo 14.

Question 8

True or false: Alan Shepard was the only Mercury astronaut to later command a Gemini mission.

Accepted Answer

False. Shepard never flew a Gemini mission; he was grounded during the program. Gus Grissom commanded Gemini 3, and others flew Gemini flights.

Alan Shepard Trivia Questions